A North Carolina prison is under scrutiny after six inmates wrote to a federal court alleging correctional officers forced them to rub habanero hot sauce on their genitals, resulting in painful blisters.

N.C. Department of Public Safety spokeswoman Pamela Walker said Monday that one staff member at Sampson Correctional Institution had been reassigned and that another is on leave after an internal investigation, the findings of which are being kept confidential.

The probe was initiated after inmates at the prison sent a hand-written letter to the U.S. District Court in Greensboro complaining that staff had forced them to perform numerous humiliating acts, including gulping hot sauce and slathering it on themselves. The inmates also reported being forced to capture and kiss wild snakes while working on a road crew.